413047-Underground-Commercial-Sex-Economy

with clients (B3). One respondent directed his employees to use Instant Messenger (IM) chats to
minimize physical evidence: “The only thing not recorded is the IM chat. Take everything from email to
IM. I don’t use the cell phone too much … 15 minutes of talk on the website, a couple minutes on the
phone, then move to IM. That’s where I’d do the negotiating—because when the chat was closed, it was
gone” (G13). Some respondents reported that staying offline altogether was one of the best ways to avoid
arrest: “If we’re online, I’m taking a chance taking her [to the date]. Because police do set up stings. They
might look on the Internet and call” (G12).
Despite the noted risks, online advertisement opened up new business opportunities for pimps. Typical
online venues included classifieds, personal or business websites, and social media or discussion boards.
Online Classifieds
Classified websites are a popular venue of online advertisement for pimps. Websites such as Backpage
have been used to advertise commercial sex transactions to johns (Kunze 2010; Latonero et al. 2011;
Latonero et al. 2012; Smith et al. 2009). Respondents employed various advertising sites, including
Backpage.com, Eros.com, Redbook.com, Craigslist.com, CityVibe.com, SoWet.com, and
SeekingArrangements.com, as well as locally-based advertisement websites. 64 Pimps reported that some
websites were more competitive or catered to specific client interests. Additionally, some respondents
noted that paid websites that required pictures were preferable, despite the added costs: “Wherever you
at, use professional pictures and pay $150 a month” (E10).
Respondents frequently updated and reposted classified advertisements, as posts were quickly bumped
from the front page by competitors or flagged as inappropriate and removed by host websites. A pimp
explained, “Craigslist would remove the post. I would say, ‘18 year-old looking for sugar daddy.’ Everyone
knows a sugar daddy is a john. The john pays for everything. Craigslist would remove the post” (G14). As a
result, pimps posted multiple times a day:
Post every day, two times a day, three times a day. Postings go down, so you post
throughout the day. Get you a prepaid visa, put some money on there, and let the girls do
their thing. I post, [my] bottom posts. If my girl is in the shower, I post it for her. So easy
to do it. I got pictures already on the laptop. Make a little ad, make the title. Say, “I am in
town, looking to have a great time if you are interested, show me some experiences.” (B3)
In some cases, employees took full responsibility for posting advertisements: “I never set up no page, they
would do it. Like I said, they would always do extra just to do what they wanted to do” (E10). Other pimps
reported that they had full ownership over the advertisements, and would post advertisements for their
employees daily. For some interviewees, constructing and posting advertisements was a collaborative
process between pimps and employees:
Interviewer: Did the girls post the ads
Respondent: I helped them. I’m a man, I helped them with what to say. I know what I
would look for. A pretty girl, nice body, I know she wants money. (G12)
While uncommon among our respondents, at least one pimp automated his advertisement posts for
efficient and constant dissemination across websites: “I built websites and everyone had a Gmail account.
I would pay for access to this website and we’d use about 15 engines or sites. If I had four girls working, I’d
evenly disperse ads over the sites. I used an ad generator and pop ups” (G13).
Websites
Pimps also used their own websites to advertise. Business websites could be expensive to build, and
multiple respondents cited websites as a business aspiration. One respondent who worked in over twenty
separate cities explained, “Once my business got streamlined and I had really high-class escorts, I got me
a website. I got a web designer to build it for me for like $5,000” (D18). A woman who worked as a bottom
64 As chapter 6 explored, online classified advertisements are also used by pimps to recruit employees.
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